I love creating. Creating stimulates the mind and soul. To me, creating art is like problem solving. You have an idea in your mind, but because it’s in your mind, you can’t necessarily see it. I mean, you see it in your head, but it isn’t there for you to look at and reproduce. So, because you can’t “see” it, it is just a thought. Trying to put it on paper is like putting together pieces of a puzzle... a puzzle that hasn’t yet been made and doesn’t exist…. The individual pieces don’t exist! You have to keep rearranging and reconfiguring the pieces you’ve made until you finally have exactly (or something close to) what you “saw” in your head. Art is a great work out for your brain and will keep you sharp! Even if you don’t feel like you are the creative type, you’d be surprised at what happens when you take your time and really put your mind to it. Some people will never know their true potential because of the mental block they have.... or perhaps they truly hate trying to be artistic because, let’s face it, it does require patience and effort, which some people lack. Sometimes even I have those mental blocks. I look at other people’s art and because I am human, I naturally compare my ability to theirs, which I know I shouldn’t do. I often feel like I lack the experience and I feel that what I am creating is simply not good enough. It’s difficult to stay motivated when you are constantly comparing yourself to the amazing work of others. I feel like other artists are so full of creative ideas and often I simply cannot think of anything to create. Even if I am feeling motivated, I may not have a particular project to work on at someone else’s request, so I have the luxury of being lazy. Well enough of that! I should not be sitting around waiting for motivation. I should not be sitting around waiting for someone to prompt me to create by waving ideas (or money) in front of my face. And I certainly shouldn’t feel like my work is not good enough. I need to create for the sake of creating. I need to create in order to feed my soul and exercise my brain. I need to create because it makes me happy. So....... I am going to challenge myself to create something new and share it every day for thirty days. (Thirty days! I must be nuts!) These creations could be anything. They could be words or phrases that I just like or find to be beautiful on paper. It could be some pieces I wrote for practice. It could be a project that someone has me working on; or possibly a doodle that I did at some point during the day. Maybe I will showcase an address on an envelope that I did for a beautiful bride. I don’t know what my mind will create on any given day. The possibilities are endless and I hope you will join me during this process. I will be posting each one here, everyday. I will also pin them to my Pinterest, so please follow me. I will post a few to Facebook, but certainly not all of them because I do not want to annoy my fans by clogging up their feed. Also, if you plan to follow me during this journey, please be warned that I am a huge fan of colloquialisms and slang (when classy.... and if not classy, at least humorous), so you may see a dirty word here and there. Nothing too extreme.... :) Although I know it will be challenging, I’m excited about the next thirty days. Normally, I have to spend a few days, if not weeks on one project; so trying to create something new every day is going to be tough. I will have to constantly brainstorm. The wheels will need to be turning constantly. I will need to keep my pencil and paper handy on a constant basis. I will have to become The Constant Calligrapher. Thanks for reading! Oh and do me a favor... Drop a word or your favorite phrase in the comments below and I may consider using it for one of my segments!